Kimberly Kim made it look easy in advancing to today's quarterfinals in the U.S. Women's Amateur Public Links, but she had to sweat it out a little when her putter was questioned after her third-round 4 and 3 victory over Glory Joo Young Yang at Pueblo, Colo.

Kim, a 14-year-old former Big Island resident now residing in Mesa, Ariz., was the only golfer with Hawai'i ties to advance in match play yesterday as Stephanie Kono, Mari Chun and Amanda Wilson were eliminated at the Walking Stick Golf Course.

After her victory over Yang, 18, of Murrieta, Calif., a United States Golf Association walking rules official questioned whether Kim's mallet-style putter conformed to the Rules of Golf, according to a report at the tournament's Web site.

The distance from the heel to the toe must be greater than the distance from the face to the back of the putter. USGA officials called USGA assistant technical director John Spitzer in New Jersey to verify if the brand of putter conformed.

After 20 minutes, Kim was told the putter was OK.

"It was like 10 minutes of pain in my little life," Kim said. "I've never been almost DQ'd ever. I almost had a heart attack."

Kim, the youngest golfer remaining, faces stroke play co-medalist Mina Harigae, 16, of Monterey, Calif., who defeated Morgan Grantham, of Kingman, Ariz., 5 and 4. None of the quarterfinalists are older than 20.

Kim went 1-up against Yang with a birdie on the par-4 No. 3 and never trailed thereafter.

Kono, a 16-year-old junior-to-be at Punahou School, fell in the third round to Maria Jose Uribe of Columbia, 3 and 1. Uribe took control when she holed out for an eagle on the par-5 13th hole and Kono missed a 5-footer for eagle. Uribe went 2-up with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole. She closed with a birdie on the par-3 16th hole.

"I knew it was going to be tough because (Kono) is a really good player," Uribe said in a story at www.uswapl.org. "She (started) really good and I was just staying in there until ... I made the bunker shot."

Kim and Kono won second-round matches yesterday and advanced to the round of 16.

In the second round, Kim never trailed in a 4 and 3 victory over Kelly Schaub of Greeley, Colo., at the par-72, 6,263-yard Walking Stick Golf Course. Kim ended the match by winning the par-5 15th hole with a birdie.

Kono rallied to beat Karla Murra of Sioux Falls, S.D., 4 and 3. Kono took the lead when she birdied the 12th hole. She then won the next three holes, including an eagle on the par-5 15th to end it.

Chun, a 2005 Kamehameha Schools graduate and Stanford University student, lost to Harigae, 7 and 6.

Wilson, a 2005 Waiakea High graduate and University of Arizona student, lost to Ashley Sholer of Canada, 3 and 1.

This is the event that Michelle Wie won as a 13-year-old and finished runner-up the next year.

Information from www.uswapl.org was used in this report.